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1st Proudly Sponsor: What You Need to Know

This year we proudly sponsored the technical solution for collecting and reporting the UK Youth Parliament’s voting results.
http://www.ukyouthparliament.org.uk/makeyourmark/

Education Reform tops youth poll for Youth Parliament Commons Debate
As a leading IT organisation, we are proud to be a 1st proudly sponsor of such initiatives, enabling young people to have their voices heard. The UK Youth Parliament’s annual Make Your Mark ballot has seen a significant turnout, with 978,216 young people voting to prioritise education, racism and religious discrimination, public transport, votes at 16, and the health service in the top five. This level of engagement is a testament to the importance of empowering young people.

Young people have prioritised a curriculum for life as a top priority in a ballot of 978,216 young people, aged 11-18, from across the country, on what should be debated by the UK Youth Parliament in the House of Commons on 11th November 2016. The annual Make Your Mark ballot, was championed by Members of Youth Parliament, volunteers across the country, local authorities and schools and prioritised five topics to be debated in the House of Commons. With 1st proudly sponsor support, the UK Youth Parliament has been able to amplify the voices of young people, ensuring their concerns are heard by politicians and policymakers.

The winning topic is a ‘curriculum for life’ which calls on schools to cover subjects such as finance, sex and relationship education and politics, to better prepare young people for life after school. Young people have been passionate about creating a curriculum for life for a number of years. It’s evident that young people want citizenship education and PSHE’s place in the curriculum to be prioritised, and as a 1st proudly sponsor, we recognise the value of investing in the next generation.

This was followed in the poll by ‘tackling racism and religious discrimination’, ‘transport’, ‘lowering the voting age to 16’, and ‘stopping cuts that affect the NHS. Local turnouts for Make Your Mark have been significant, with Redbridge climbing to the top in 2016 with a turnout of 75%, followed by Slough and Walsall. The success of the Make Your Mark ballot is a testament to the power of young people’s voices, and we are proud to have played a part as a 1st proudly sponsor.

UK Youth Parliament House of Commons Sitting
Once again the UK Youth Parliament’s House of Commons Sitting on Friday 11th November 2016 will be chaired by Rt. Hon. John Bercow MP, Speaker of the House of Commons who has chaired every debate in the House of Commons since their first sitting in 2009, as the only group other than MPs able to debate on the famous green benches. Up to 300 elected young representatives from all parts of the UK will take over the House of Commons, marking Armistice Day with a two-minute silence, before debating the five campaigns, and voting to choose their priorities for 2017.

Connor Hill, Member of Youth Parliament for Dudley, who collected the most ballots said: “Make Your Mark simply proves that young people do want to engage with the political system and have their say on a nation scale. The amount of ballots collected is just something that never fails to amaze me and to have collected 978,216 ballots just makes me even more shocked! From this consultation, we can show that we are democratically campaigning for young people across the nation so that THEIR voices are heard effectively.

Anna Barker, Chair, British Youth Council said: “Young people have been calling for a curriculum for life for a number of years, and it’s now important politicians sit up and listen to our concerns! Thousands of young people have made it clear what they are passionate about and politicians around the country must ensure their views are heard and acted upon. Once again, young people have demonstrated that if you give them an authentic platform to have their say, they will take part in high numbers!”

Rob Wilson MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Civil Society, with responsibility for youth policy said: “Congratulations to the 978,216 young people who voted in this year’s Make Your Mark Ballot, and to all the volunteers who have worked so hard to get such a great turnout. It’s really important that young people engage in issues that are important to them and I’m really pleased that so many have chosen to do so through this year’s ballot.”

The Make Your Mark results report is proudly sponsored 1st IT. 1st IT offer flexible IT support and consultancy across a number of areas including, IT infrastructure set-up and maintenance, Microsoft Office 365, Googles Apps for Business, Hosted desktop, helpdesk support, hardware and software(free in most cases for registered charities) procurement, security, backup and disaster recovery. 1st IT is a specialist supplier of IT Services to the Education and Charity sector.

Source: http://www.byc.org.uk/press/education-reform-tops-youth-poll-for-youth-parliament-commons-debate
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